Los Angeles: Whitney Houston death cast its shadow on the Grammy awards with some of the biggest names in the music world bowing their heads in honour of the great artist, whose "I will always love you" continued to resonate throughout the ceremony.
The singer was found dead in her fourth floor room at a Beverly Hills, California, hotel on Sunday night. The cause of her death will be known only after the toxicology and other reports are out, which may take as many as eight weeks, the CNN reported.
In recent years, Houston's musical achievements were shadowed by her drug addiction, rehabs, lapses and her broken relationship with ex-husband Bobby Brown.
Her death suddenly brought the spotlight on her musical legacy and it was evident during the ceremony, which paid tribute to the singer. "Whitney, we will always love you," host LL Cool J said at the awards. He again took to stage to talk about Houston.
"Tonight, we ask ourselves: How do we speak to this time? To this day? There is no way around this. We've had a death in our family," he said. The rapper and actor then offered his prayer, thanking God "for sharing our sister Whitney with us."
"And although she's gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever," he said.
During the show, stars of past and present -- from Bruno Mars to Stevie Wonder -- celebrated the late singer. Jennifer Hudson, who considered Houston a great inspiration, took to stage in a black sleeveless dress to singer her rendition of "I will always love you."
As the crowd burst into applause, Hudson tweaked the song to include "Whitney, we will always love you."